It's better to be an empress than a county magistrate

The ownerless land can be distributed to the remaining refugees, and they will also be provided with seeds.

In addition, Lu Xingchen also asked Wei Hu and others to start recruiting soldiers.

As long as a man is physically fit, over the age of sixteen and under thirty, and willing to serve in the army, he can become a half-farmer, half-soldier.

Such soldiers can be exempted from taxes at the end of the year, and each soldier can also receive wages every month.

Lu Xingchen planned to expand the original Xingxian regular army from one thousand to two thousand people.

The half-farmer, half-soldiers garrison expanded to 4,000 men.

In this way, the number of troops under her command reached 6,000.

In this chaotic era, human life is the least valuable, yet also the most valuable.

In times of chaos, human life is worthless. Most people think that in such times, if you just scatter a handful of rice or a handful of copper coins on the ground, people will gather around like ants.

How valuable is human life at a time like this?

But Lu Xingchen knew that in such troubled times, people are the most valuable.

Because as long as people unite together, they have infinite power. A great man once said that man can conquer nature.

As long as you can bring people together and make them unite to do something, you will unleash unlimited potential.

In an agricultural society, people are the productive force.

As long as there are people who can organize an army, they can continue to capture cities and expand their territory.

As long as there are people, thousands of acres of land can be cultivated and the granaries can be filled with grain.

Man is the root of everything.

Without people, talking about anything loses its value and basis.

So after taking over Teng County, Lu Xingchen began to recruit a large number of people.

She wants everyone, whether they are farmers, craftsmen, or businessmen.

Lu Xingchen, Feixue and the guards rode on horseback on the livestock farm.

This is a vast and fertile land.

Lu Xingchen thought about reclaiming land here, growing grass, and raising horses and other livestock.

With cheap labor, she could fence off the pasture, then reclaim all the land for growing grass, and build houses, stables, sheep pens, etc.

Just thinking about that scene made her feel excited.

She has now taken over three county towns, plus a large area of ​​mountainous area in Niutou Mountain.

At this time, Wanxian was already in her pocket.

Don't be so anxious to get it.

In just two months, she had acquired so much land and had so many people. It would take her some time to digest it all.

As for Zhou Shu, he should be the one who is anxious.

Zhou Shu was indeed anxious and scared. When he heard that Lu Xingchen had captured Zhao Long and beheaded him in the square of Teng County, he sat down on a chair with a pale face, blue lips, and his hands tightly grasped the armrests of the chair.

Zhao Long was killed by Lu Xingchen, and Teng County also became Lu Xingchen's.

If he had known this would happen, he should never have agreed to Zhao Long and Yu Ru's marriage.

He should have insisted on marrying Yu Ru to Lu Xingchen.

What should we do now?

Zhou Shu almost didn't sleep for two nights and suddenly looked ten years older.

The white hair in his head grew twice as much and his face looked haggard.

"Master Liu, think of a solution. What should we do next?"

Master Liu had a helpless expression on his face. What else could he do at this time?

Apart from admitting defeat and surrendering, and giving the county to Lu Xingchen, is there any other way?

At that time, he thought that one should not be indecisive when marrying off his daughter.

Now, I’ve offended this devil Lu Xingchen.

"You go... I heard that Yu Ru was captured by Lu Xingchen. Lu Xingchen is interested in Yu Ru, so I will prepare a dowry and marry Yu Ru to him." Zhou Shu pointed in the direction of the gate and said to Master Liu.

"master……"

Before Master Liu could finish his words, he was interrupted by Zhou Shu.

"Go quickly, what are you dawdling for?"

Master Liu had no choice but to agree, "Okay, Master, I'll go right away."

*

Lu Xingchen brought Zhou Yuru, Wei Hu, Zhang Fan and others back to Xing County.

"Congratulations, His Excellency the County Magistrate, for gaining another county." Master Guo said with a smile when he saw Lu Xingchen.

Lu Xingchen said, "Congratulations!"

Lu Xingchen and Master Guo were talking about things in Teng County while walking towards the county town.

"I want to take a break for a while. We have expanded too fast in the past two months. I need to sort out what I have and hold it tightly in my hands." Lu Xingchen said.

“In addition, financial power and human rights must be in our own hands.”

Master Guo nodded vigorously, expressing his approval.

"I will send someone to Song County to check the accounts right away." said Master Guo.

Lu Xingchen nodded and said, "We must find out how much money Song County has spent and how much money it has earned during this period."

"Also, send two more helpers to Linghu Qing."

Master Guo nodded in agreement. The young master looked young, but his political skills were very sophisticated.

All these important powers are firmly held in his own hands.

"We have indeed been moving forward too fast recently. The foundation is not solid, and it is easy to fail. We need to set aside some time for steady progress," said Master Guo.

Lu Xingchen hummed, "But the housekeeping matters still have to be left to you."

"We must not only control the human rights and financial power of Xing County, but also control the power of Song County and Teng County..."

"Don't worry, young master." Master Guo agreed readily.

"I will be training soldiers recently, and I will also be making some reforms to the military system." Lu Xingchen said, "Our business is getting bigger and bigger, and the number of troops is also increasing. We can't have no hierarchy like before."

Master Guo excitedly fanned the bamboo fan in his hand.

"I knew that the county lord was not an ordinary person, and now it seems to be true."

"Have you thought about how to reform the system, Lord County Magistrate?"

"I have decided to divide our troops into two parts, one of which will be the Imperial Guards."

"The Imperial Guard is a regular army, full-time soldiers who do not engage in other activities, drill in their leisure time every day, and participate in battles during wartime."

"The other part is called the militia..."

"Militiamen also take part in other labors in peacetime and serve as reserve forces in wartime..."

"We can select excellent soldiers from the militia and continuously fill the number of regular troops."

"This way the regular army can always maintain its rated number."

"What do you think of my idea?"

"Of course." Master Guo turned the bamboo fan in his hand, "Come on, let's go to my small courtyard and talk while we make tea."

Lu Xingchen smiled and nodded in agreement. Instead of returning to his own residence, he followed Master Guo directly to his courtyard.

The servant in the yard saw Master Guo coming back and also saw Lu Xingchen, and hurriedly bowed.

"Light up the small stove. The county magistrate and I are going to have tea. We have something important to discuss." Master Guo called the servant.

The servant immediately took action, lit the stove and boiled some hot water.

Because Master Guo and Lu Xingchen had important things to say, the servant stepped away.

After the water boiled, Lu Xingchen made tea.

"With a regular army, our combat effectiveness will be much stronger," said Master Guo.

"Wanxian is already in our pocket."

"The next step is Jizhou City."